TEXTBOOK: H.D. Young and R.A. Freedman, "University Physics, 11th Edition" Addison-Wesley Publisher
If you purchase the textbook from the campus bookstore, it will come bundled with a license for the
Mastering Physics online homework system. If you purchase a used textbook, or get your textbook elsewhere, you will need to
purchase a license for Mastering Physics separately.
Phys 117 is a two semester introductory sequence in general physics. Some small amount of calculus will be used. The course is designed for pre-med students in that it covers all topics in physics that are on the MCAT. The course is appropriate for other pre-professional students, pre-physical therapy, pre-dental, pre-architecture, pre-law, etc. Engineering students should take the Phys 116 sequence, but Phys 117 may be substituted. Physics majors should take the Phys 121 sequence. Phys 121 is a five hour course which, in addition to physics majors, is appropriate for any student who has a strong interest in physics.
The purpose of any of the introductory sequences in physics is to introduce the student to the basic concepts of physics. This is not only an introduction to a set of topics that are a part of physics, but also an introduction to the way physics is done and to the way physics is conceptually constructed. A central part of physics is to understand the underlying basic laws of nature. Understand here means to discover them, to formulate them in as simple and elegant manner as possible, and then to apply them to interesting and socially important sytems often with an aim toward creating new technologies. Subfields of physics, named according to the nature of the specific problems being studied, include astronomy/astrophysics, cosmology, materials physics, biological physics, atomic/molecular physics, optical/laser physics, plasma physics, accelerator physics, nuclear physics, particle physics, acoustics, etc. Even though there is a great variety of problems and topics addressed by physicists, there is the underlying unity of understanding nature in the context of her fundamental laws.
